


Upon That Little Tent of Blue We Prisoners Called The Sky

by wanderingstoryteller



Series: No one ever said this life would be simple [30]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/F, Foursome-F/F/F/F Sort Of, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Prison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-12-18 16:40:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18253787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingstoryteller/pseuds/wanderingstoryteller
Summary: Yaz and the Doctor get thrown into a women's prison on the first moon of Tyco. Trouble predictably ensues, especially when they make an enemy of one of the prisons more powerful gang leaders. They also make some very interesting new friends.





	1. The Walls of Redwing

**Author's Note:**

> In the spirit of this series hitting on pretty much every potential sci-fi, romance novel, fan-fiction trope and bad erotica cliche, have a prison episode. I haven't actually decided if I'm going to do a sex scene or not in this one but I'll up the rating if I do.

Yaz and the Doctor were both beyond exhausted by the time they were thrown into the general population of Red Wing prison. They had spent the previous night locked up in a jail cell in a provincial police station on Tyco’s first moon on suspicion of assisting the rebellion. While they were far enough forward into Tyco’s history that the last of the last of the breeding and work camps had long since been shut down, the first moon remained one of the last holdouts of the empire and was essentially a totalitarian state.

They were actually treated considerably better than they had the last time the crossed the Tycan empire. They weren’t tortured or even particually manhanddled before they were locked into a small jail cell with two bunk beds for the night.

Unfortunately for Yaz and the Doctor, a young second moon variant omega had been placed in the same cell shortly after they were. Even worse, the omega girl had gone into heat not long before dawn.

She must have been gay or bisexual because her pheromones started to effect both Yaz and the Doctor, as they would have any woman attracted to women regardless of alpha, beta or omega dynamic. The tendency of second moon variant omegas to broadcast to all members of their preferred gender was one reason that suppressants were never outlawed on Kepler. Heats for second moon variants were just too damn disruptive for anyone in the fallout zone.

As Yaz had discovered the first time she’d encountered a second variant omega, she was affected by them as badly as an alpha would be. She also didn’t have a lot of control in that regard because her limited experience in dealing with it.

The Doctor had spent most of the night sitting on one of the cells lower bunks, her arms wrapped around Yaz to keep her from trying to go to the omega. The omegas scent had quickly knocked the Doctor into rut, but she had centuries of practice in ignoring ruts, Yaz didn’t. Had the situation not been so terribly awkward, or had there not been cameras on them, the Doctor might have distracted Yaz by bedding her herself.

For her part, when she realized she was falling into an unexpected heat, the dark haired woman had begged the Doctor and Yaz not to touch her when her heat hit, no matter what she said. The Doctor had promised she wouldn’t. For once she and Yaz weren’t faced with a fuck or die situation, the omega would survive her heat, even if she was miserable. The Doctor desperately wished that the police hadn’t taken her coat. She’d actually put a set of emergency heat and rut suppressants in one of her inside pockets in case of exactly such a situation.

The young omega’s resolve didn’t last very long when her heat took her. She went from sitting with her arms wrapped around herself, to staring at the Doctor and Yaz longingly as if they were the last drink of water in a desert, to trying to approach them.

When she climbed onto their bunk, the Doctor actually started to growl. “Back off.”

That didn’t work and the omega reached for Yaz, who tried to pull away from the Doctor and lean into the touch.

The Doctor kicked at the omega, although not very hard. “No! Absolutely not. You are not too far gone into your heat to control yourself.”

The omega drew back, retreated to the edge of the bunk, covering her face.

“Forgive me, please. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay, just go back to your bunk,” said the Doctor.

The omega obeyed, at least for a bit. Yaz had fallen asleep in the Doctor’s arms when the omega crawled back onto the edge of the bunk.

The Doctor was far enough into her own rut that her temper was fraying. She made a low, dangerous snarling sound and the omega flinched as it struck.

“Please,” she begged. Her skin was flushed and her eyes half glazed.

“No. When you could still think clearly, you said you didn’t want my mate or me. I will honor that. You can get through an umated heat.” At least she would if she didn’t get too dehydrated or show signs of adrenaline poisoning. She wasn’t showing signs of either yet but that could quickly change.

“It hurts.”

“I know. Try to focus on your breathing, it will help a little. Try and go lie down. Your early enough in your heat you may be able to sleep.”

“Like really hurts. I’ve never done this before, not gone through an unmated heat without suppressants.”

She tried to crawl forward and the Doctor again growled, sending her back. The sound woke Yaz, who again tried to instinctively reach for the omega.

“No,” snapped the Doctor. “You stay with me.”

Yaz blinked up at her with hazy eyes. Then she tried to kiss the Doctor, which led to an ever more awkward attempt by the Doctor to break the kiss without letting go of her.

“Yaz,” she managed. “We cannot have sex, not here.”

“Why?” Yaz was apparently still capable of speech, although barely.

“Among other things, I’m not sure how successfully I can keep shooing away our new friend if we get distracted.”

The barely seemed to process in the human’s hormone addled brain. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yes, she said no before her heat took her.”

Brief clarity flickered in Yaz’s eyes. “She did.”

She settled back against the Doctor with a huff of breath. “I’m still fucking your brains out when we get home.”

“Counting on it.”

Except it was a while before they got home. The Doctor was glad that she didn’t personally need that much sleep because like clockwork, almost every half hour the entire process would repeat. The omega girl would try and approach. The Doctor would show her teeth and growl her away, usually causing Yaz to jerk awake. Yaz would by that point be hormone dazed enough to have again forgotten why she wasn’t supposed to touch the omega.

She would attempt to, forcing the Doctor to restrain her, which would cause Yaz to decide she actually wanted the Doctor. Usually by the time the Doctor had calmed Yaz again, the omega would crawl over. Through it all, the Doctor was dealing with the deep aggravation and ache of an unattended rut.

It was almost a relief when two police officers showed up to check the cell in the morning. The door clicked open as the Doctor was in the middle of one of her more dramatic attempts at a warning snarl and was actively fending off the omega with a boot clad foot.

The two officers were an older female beta and a young male alpha of the same

“Now that's a sight you don’t see every day,” said the older beta, sniffing the air suspiciously. She must not have fancied women, because the omega didn’t affect her.

“Is that alpha actually batting off an omega in heat?” the younger beta sounded equally amazed. “I thought alphas were like helpless to resist that kind of thing.

“She’s either got a resolve of steel, or she might just be queer, sometimes those ones are immune to omega heats.”

“She doesn’t look queer,” said the young man.

“She’s literally holding a beta in her arms.”

“It’s not like she’s holding another alpha.”

“Hate to interrupt that lovely, mildly phobic discussion you’re having there,” called the Doctor, “but I’d really appreciate it if you could perhaps lend some assistance. Might I suggest getting this charming young woman some suppressants and putting her in a different cell alone.”

“Not our problem, we were just set to fetch you and your mate. Your both being transferred to Red Wing prison until your trial.”

“We haven’t even had a hearing, or seen a lawyer, or you know gotten anything resembling due process,” said the Doctor, not that she’d really expected any of those things.

“Yea, suspected rebels don’t get those. Now come on, hop up and let’s go.”

Getting up proved rather challenging. The Doctor was still afraid to completely let go of Yaz and she couldn’t move with her basically in her lap. In the end the female beta guard had to come into the cell and briefly restrain the omega.

Yaz was able to hold it together long enough to stand and the Doctor pulled her from the cell by the wrist. The beta guard let go of the omega and quickly stepped out, slamming the door behind herself.

 

…

 

The guards cuffed them and put them in the back of a police transport. The moment they were away from the omega, Yaz’s senses began to return. It was a surprising short ride before they were led into a prison intake office. They couldn't have even left the city, which was good because it meant they weren’t too far from the TARDIs or their friends.

They were handed off to two prison guards and led down a grey hallway to a room where a beta in a white coat was waiting with another guard.

The moment she scented them she started to swear, “damn it, why was she brought here in rut? She can’t go into genpop like that, she’ll start a fight before she even reaches her cell.”

“The officers who brought them said there was some sort of incident with an omega in heat. They don’t think she mated the omega at least.”

“Great, just great.” The prison doctor was already rummaging in a drawer. “So it’s an unintended rut. We can’t just lock her up in solitary for that long. She’s going to need a emergency suppressant shot  and those aren’t cheap or particularly pleasant. Honestly they should have dealt with this issue at the jail, not sent it to me.”

She motioned for the Doctor to sit on a medical table and drew a shot. To one of the guards she said, “Go get a trash bin, she’s going to probably throw up a few minutes after I give her this.”

The Doctor watched her unhappy. “I can pretty much guarantee that. I always did in my past regenerations.”

The prison doctor blinked. “Past regenerations? What are you?”

“Not Tycan.”

The woman in the white medical coat frowned, “well you smell close enough, and if you’ve had one of these before and not died I’m gonna guess your close enough to human for this to work.”

She gave the Doctor the shot. Not surprisingly, the Doctor did throw up about a minute later, and pretty much every couple minutes after that.

Yaz wanted to go to the Doctor but the guards wouldn’t let her. The prison doctor finally seemed to notice Yaz.

“Why are your eyes blown?”

“It was a second moon omega,” Yaz explained.

“ah, well that should wear off soon enough. Strip and stand by the medical bed, I’ll do your search and health check while your friend over there finishes puking up her guts.

Taking off her clothes was the last thing Yaz wanted to do but she knew when she was powerless in a situation.

At least there was nothing malicious in the woman’s eyes. She made her raise her arms, turn around once, and run her fingers through her own hair.

“Alright, now according to the new regulations I can either physically examine you for contraband or I can just scan you with a Y device. Your choice.”

Yaz crossed her arms over her breasts, “Scan I guess?”

“Wise choice, much faster and the cancer risks are way overblown.” The woman picked up a device that looked a lot like an ipad and quickly scanned it over Yaz’s body. She seemed very confused when she got lower.

“The hell do you have in your cervix? Is that thing...metal?”

“It’s a copper IUD.”

“I’ve only read about those in history books, where did you even get such a thing?”

“I’m from off world, please don’t mess with it, it really hurt to get in and I don’t want to have to do that again.”

“Suit yourself.” She finished her scan and let Yaz put on a pair of loose grey pants and a similarly colored shirt.

By that time the Doctor had stopped throwing up and actually looked much better. “Might as well check you over so I can get to other stuff.”

She seemed mildly confused when the Doctor stripped. “Wait, are you sure your not a second moon alpha? I’ve never seen meds reverse a rut so quickly.”

“Not second moon, the meds just work fast, hence the puking.” The Doctor was not looking at her kindly.

The woman scanned her quickly and let her dress as well. To the guards she said. “Take them to get their kit and then make sure they shower before they go into general pop. I don’t want you sending that alpha in when she still smells so strongly of rut.”

The guads nodded. They led Yaz and the Doctor down the hall to a window where they were given more grey clothes and some bedding. The bathroom that they were taken to bore a startling resemblance to a YMCA gym one. One of the guards messed with her phone and the other loudly popped bubble gum while Yaz and the Doctor showered quicky. If there had ever been hot water, there was none then.

 

When the guards ushered them down into their new cell, they found a very scarred and touch looking alpha who bore a surprising resemblance to Private Vasquez from Aliens, sans red bandana, reclining on a bottom bunk reading a book.

“Hey Jen, you’ve got new bunkmates,” called out one of the guards, “ Try not to knife one of them this time, please?”

She sat up and sniffed the air, “No promises. Blondie there’s an alpha and you know I don’t like it when they put other alphas in my cell.”

“Yea, but there isn’t space anywhere else. Maybe try to find a non stabby way to assert your dominance this time, yea?”

“Fine.”

With an annoyed sigh, the guard departed.

Not knowing what else to do the Doctor put on her best beaming smile. “Hi, I’m the Doctor and this is Yasmine.”

The dark haired alpha set down her book, rising slowly, “that can’t be your real name and you’ve not been in this place long enough to earn a nickname.”

“I don’t go by anything else.”

“Chipper aren't you. At least your cute.” The woman moved closer, “You smell like an alpha, but you’re pretty enough to be an omega.” Then she made the mistake of reaching out to touch the Doctor’s face.

Yaz moved between them. “Oye, don’t start with the creepy predatory shit, not today.”

The dark eyed alpha raised an eyebrow, considering Yaz’s clenched hands.

“Protective aren’t you. She yours then?”

“She’s my mate,” snapped Yaz.

“Not much of an alpha then is she, letting a beta defend her.”

“We protect each other, “ said the Doctor laying a hand on Yaz’s shoulder and glaring at the other alpha.

“We do,” said Yaz firmly.

The apha snorted in amusement. Something in her way her shoulders relaxed told Yaz that she wasn’t really looking for a fight. She moved back towards her bunk, “What liberal new age queer romance novel did you two wander out of?”

“That’s a genre? I want to read that. Do you have any?” said the Doctor.

That got them something almost close to a smile from the alpha. “Nah but our other bunkmate, Lucy is obsessed with them. She’ll lend you one of her favorites if you’ll talk about them with her.”  

“What am I lending and who are these people?” asked a slender, heavily scarred beta as she entered the cell. She eyed Yaz and the Doctor like she was trying to figure out if they were a threat or not. She looked even more likely to stab someone then Jen.

“New bunkmates, the blond one wants to borrow one of your romance novels.”

The tough looking inmate instantly brightened, “You do, really?”

“Yes, I love a good romance novel,” said the Doctor brightly.

Soon enough the Doctor, Yaz and Jen were all sitting on one of the bottom bunks as the woman excitedly showed them a pile of books and Jen pointedly ignored them, returning to her own detective novel. Yaz was once again amazed by how quickly the Doctor seemed able to make new friends.

A loud buzzer sounded suddenly. “Dinner time, come on. I’ll show you to the cafeteria,” said Lucy taking the lead of their small group, guiding them through several winding hallways that other women were making their way through.

From what the Doctor could tell, the majority of the women they passed were betas, although about one in five was an alpha. That was a slightly higher percentage of alphas than she’d have expected in the normal population of the first moon of Tyco. She saw no sign of any omegas. Maybe they locked them up in a different wing of the prison.

She could tell from the dullness of the alpha’s scents that they were all on chemical suppressants, the same as the unpleasant one that was still making her feel nauseous. She hoped the side effects wore off soon. The less than inviting smell of the prison cafeteria didn’t help much.

They got into a long, slow moving line. Lucy kept talking about her favorite literary genre and the Doctor continued to listen with what appeared to be interest. Yaz had a bad feeling that the scarred beta’s enthusiasm was going to get old fast.

She watched the room, fighting to keep her own face blank. She’d been in a lot of bad places before and this was by far not the worst. The women locked in with them though, she knew all about women like them, she’d arrested plenty in her time.

A few were likely members of the resistance or other’s who’d run afoul of the state. Others had a more sinister look to them, flinty eyed and watchful. Some were likely just druggies, or thieves and such, others though. Yaz knew hardened criminals when she saw them. Too much time on the inside had a way of turning people into something less than they should be, made them cold and calculating, hungry and distrustful like an abused dog and just as dangerous. They also stuck out like sore thumbs when she arrested them for reoffending for various offenses in Sheffield. Here they were clearly in their element.

Even just watching she could begin to make out the complex alliances of some of the more hardened inmates. At one table,at the heart of a group, a pretty petite red haired woman was sitting perched on the lap of a considerably more muscled one. She couldn’t have been more clearly holding court if she’d had a coronet and a scepter.

At another table a woman who’s dark hair was just starting to go grey was speaking softly and yet holding the attention of everyone there. She had to be the leader of another group.

Before Yaz could observe more, they reached the front of the line. The food on offer was less than impressive, some kind of pasta and goop, some vegetable that had been boiled within an inch of its life, something that may or may not have been a cookie, and somewhat surprisingly an apple.

Lucy led them to a mostly empty table. Although Jen continued to largely ignore the conversation, she did sit with them.

They had just settled in when a woman who looked like a malevolent and considerably buffer version of Starbuck paused as she passed them and snatched up the Doctor’s apple from her tray.

“Hey, that’s mine.” The Doctor looking somewhat like a child who’s had an icecream snatched away.

Yaz grabbed the strangers wrist. “Give it back!”

The woman met her gaze and offered an almost feral smile. “Make me little girl.”

Yaz tightened her grip, twisting and pressing her thumb agonizingly into a pressure point in the woman’s wrist. The apple thumped onto the table.

Pain briefly worked its way across the strangers face, and then the smile was back.

Yaz ducked just in time to miss the punch and throw one of her own.

The woman stumbled back but lunged at her before she could fully get to her feet. That one caught Yaz in the side and sent her to the filthy cafeteria floor. The guards clearly weren’t going to do anything. Things might have gone very badly after that, likely for Yaz, except suddenly cold water was dumped over both of them.

“Enough Sammie,” barked Lucy as she thumped her empty plastic water cup on the table. “The new girl is in my cell and I like her face, don’t mess it up.”

Oddly enough, the apple thief actually pulled away from Yaz and stood up, appearing to defer to the much smaller woman. “Hey she grabbed me.”

“You took her girlfriend’s apple.”

“I wanted it.”

“What have I told you about taking things from my friends?”

“I didn’t know they were your friends Lucy,” Sammie didn’t seem quite able to hold the other woman’s gaze.

“Well they are, so don’t fuck with them.”

“Okay Lucy,” she hurried away.

The Doctor worriedly knelt beside Yaz and helped her back into her chair. Yaz was pretty sure she’d banged the back of her head on the floor at some point and her side really hurt where she’d taken the punch.

“Yaz, where does it hurt?”

“I’m fine, she was sure as hell not going to show weakness to anyone watching them.

“It was just an apple. Why did you fight over an apple? You matter so much more than an apple.”

“She did right,” said Lucy. “Now everyone knows your mate isn’t a pushover. If she let the apple go, Sammie would have probably taken some of your food every day.”

“Even if I lost?” asked Yaz.

“You don’t have to be the strongest woman to get by here, just not the easiest one to fuck with.”

 

The Doctor glared at the apple where it sat on the table, putting a protective, if gently arm around her mate. “It still wasn’t worth her getting hurt.”

“You’d best eat that thing by the way,” Lucy advised. “The guards won’t let you take it out of the cafeteria.”

“My stomach hurts too much.”

“I mean if you don’t want it…” Lucy held out her hand and the Doctor dropped the fruit into it.

Yaz watched the scared woman carefully. “Why was Sammie so afraid of you anyway. No offense but I’m not sure you’d do much better in a fight with her than I did.”

Jen finally took an interest in the proceedings. “Everyone is terrified of Lucy, even me sometimes. She was a highly successful mob hitwoman.”

“Wasn’t that successful,” said the dark haired woman. “All it took was one botched job to send me here same as anyone else.”

Jen was clearly enjoying her story telling, “She only went down for the one but rumor is she did hundreds of jobs before that.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“She was famous for using only knives.”

“Jen, don’t frighten our new friends.You’re making me sound like a villain.” When the beta pouted she looked almost cute, she had a pretty face beneath the scars and weathering. “And for the record I do have standards. I never hurt any omegas or children.”

“Kind of a low bar there,” commended Yaz.

The former hit woman shrugged as she bit into the apple, “I never said I was a saint.”

Soon enough a bell sounded and they were allowed to go back to the common areas or their cells.

Jen wandered off and Lucy showed them around. There wasn’t much to see, just a big common room with a TV,  a small prison library, the bathroom that Yaz and the Doctor had seen earlier. When lights out came they headed back to their cell. Jen and Lucy had clearly claimed the two bottom bunks.

Yaz and the Doctor climbed up onto the bunk bed above Lucy’s. Everything creaked ominously and it was a pretty narrow fit but bedding down together felt safer. The Doctor suspected that if she took the bunk above Jen she’d get territorial again and she didn’t want Yaz sleeping there.

The bars locked automatically with a loud bang and they were just started to drift off when the guard that brought them earlier wandered past to do a final bed check. She paused when her flashlight found one bunk empty.

“Where’s the other new girl?”

“Here,” chirped the Doctor.

The guard scowled, “your not supposed to share a bunk.”

“Yea but I don’t fancy sleeping over Jen after you told me she stabbed one of her last roommates.”

“Fair enough, just don't roll off the damn thing in the middle of the night.”

Everyone settled down for the night. Feeling reasonably secure for at least the moment, Yaz settled into the Doctor’s familiar arms and closed her eyes. The Doctor lay sleepless, listening and watching the dark cell block, memorising the movements of the guards.  


	2. Red Blood on White Tiles

Dawn brought a cacophony of noise. Breakfast proved little more appetizing than dinner but at least it wasn’t actually cooked. Their only real option was some kind of oat flakes and what was likely soy milk, at least Yaz hoped it was soy milk. It tasted vaguely plant like so she really hoped that it didn’t come from an animal.

No one tried to steal the Doctors cereal or the rather sorry excuse for a small dish of canned peaches she was also given. Likely no one wanted either after the Doctor covered both in a large amount of white sugar. There were large shakers of sugar, salt and pepper on the table. Apparently those things were cheap enough to let the prisoners have as much as they wanted.

Even Lucy looked a little horrified as she observed the Doctor unscrew the sugar container and dump the entire thing into her cereal after politely checked to see if anyone else wanted any first.

“Is she alright? Does she normally do that?”

“Yea. That is normal for her.”

“How is she not dead?”

“Not Tycan,” said the Doctor over a mouthful of tasteless wheat flakes.

“She needs about four times as many calories as we do and raw sugar is actually the healthiest way for her to consume it,” explained Yaz with a fond smile.

“What the hell is she then? I swear she smells like an alpha, even if she is a weird one,” said Jen.

“I’m sitting right here,” the Doctor said after swallowing. “And that is an awfully personal question. Aren’t people in jail not supposed to ask those?”

Lucy laughed so hard she nearly shot soy (well hopefully soy) milk out of her nose. “Yea, that’s just in movies. Everyone here knows everyone else's business, crime, relationship history, children’s name, and probably bra size.”

“You don’t know my bra size,” said Jen.

“38 B.”

Jen got a weird look on her face.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “If you weren’t such a lazy bitch and actually went to pick up your own laundry I wouldn't be the one checking your bag to make sure you’ve got the right clothes.”

“Ah, well I make it worth your while, I pick up new books from the library for you as soon as they come in don’t I?”

“Fair enough. I’m still confused how you got a job there.”

“I was a lit major before I ended up here for homicide.”

“I’m still not convinced you actually stabbed that man to death.”

“I’m very stabby.”

“Or you need to seem so in here to protect yourself. I keep telling you sweetheart. I’ve got your back you can ease up a little on the hyper alpha image, you are just embarrassing yourself.”

Theirs was clearly a very old and well worn, if rather sarcastic, friendship. When the meal was done all the prisoners headed off to their work details. Yaz and the Doctor didn’t actually have one but Lucy told them to follow her to the maintenance shop anyway.

The little maintenance room proved to be rather dull, at least it would have been dull if the Doctor wasn’t present. She quickly took stock of the tables piled in broken appliances, radios, wires, and other detritus and began fixing things.

Pretty soon everyone on the repair crew was just standing around and watching in awe as the Doctor did amazing things with a regular screwdriver. The guards might also have been in a similar state of awe. One offered her own watch for repair.

The Doctor was mildly confused why the guard gave her a couple cigarettes when she handed back the watch. Lucy just told the Doctor to pocket them. Pretty soon other prisoners caught word and by lunch the Doctor had repaired a lot of earphones, radios, music devices, small portable televisions, night lights and other things.

By lunchtime she had two empty tampon boxes full of cigarettes. She hadn’t wanted to accept anything for fixing things but Yaz had no qualms with doing it on her behalf. Lucy was happy to assist and tell her how much to charge.

The Doctor considered the box as they poked at their largely inedible lunch, “I don’t smoke though, never have. Tobacco actually has no effect on my species. Do I just give these away?”

Lucy and Jen looked at her like she was insane. “No, you trade them.”

“Trade them?”

“What are you five?” asked Jen in exasperation. “You trade them for things you want like favors, or dirty magazines, or phone time or chocolate.”

“Chocolate?”

“Yea, no one is ever allowed to buy more than two bars a week from commissary so they are a commodity.”

During the hours before they were let out into the yard after lunch, the Doctor converted a sizable share of her cigarette stash for chocolate as well as a hair comb, two pairs of flip flops, two toothbrushes, some toothpaste, a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. The Doctor had only wanted the chocolate, Yaz had insisted on the other things. They had no money at commissary or any other way to get other hygiene basics.

The Doctor happily ate and shared out most of the chocolate haul with her new friends as they sat in the warm afternoon sunlight in the small prison yard.

Jen looked a little baffled as the Doctor urged her to eat the half bar of melting chocolate she gave her.“Your really just giving me this.”

“Yea.”

“I didn’t give you anything.”

“Things things taste better shared.”

“Goddess you’re weird but I’m not complaining.” The alpha accepted the bar with a smile. It suited her young face.

Yaz felt a smile creeping onto her own lips, as bad as the situation was, as worried as she was about everything, she was still in awe of how quickly the Doctor have managed to make two new friends. Who would have ever thought that such open hearted kindness and generosity would work? It probably won't for most people but something about the Doctor simply made people accept largess and return it in kind.

Yaz leaned back on her arms on the bench she was sitting on and enjoyed the golden sunlight all around her. Later, at least a little bit later, she would find a chance to talk to the Doctor quietly, find out her plan. They needed to get in touch with Graham and Ryan and to also come up with an escape plan. In that moment though, all she wanted to do was sit by her lover’s side and enjoy the sound of her voice as she insisted that chocolate was health food. Sadly the moment didn’t last.

“You’re a pretty thing. I don’t know you. You must be new,” said a voice as slick as silk.

Yaz’s eyes snapped open and she found herself looking at a muscled dark hair haired woman with a few streaks of grey. She stood in front of her, flanked by two women who must have been her lackies. There was the echo of hunger in her dark eyes but there was something uglier than honest lust in them. Yaz had seen a look like that in a lovers eyes once.

Back when she’d just started to police training, she’d briefly dated a young business student who’d seemed very dashing and smart. She’d had money to go nice places and a good enough education to explain all the complexities of the plays she took Yaz to see in Sheffield’s limited theater scene. Yaz had been on the edge of getting deeper feelings when they’d had a dumb fight. Emily had bought tickets to a movie without asking Yaz, but she had a shift she couldn’t get out of and said so. Yaz hadn’t expected her to raise a hand to her, hadn’t expected the blow that knocked her to the floor of that beautiful flat.

Yaz had fled and told everyone the bruise on her cheek happened at work. She’d been so ashamed and so afraid that no one would believe her. Emily was such a tiny thing, smaller than her and all delicate golden curls and friendly seeming smiles.  She deleted her number from her phone and dropped all mutual friends.

She’d known she was lucky to have the freedom to walk away and never look back at the first warning sign. In her work as a policewoman, she saw plenty of people who hadn’t had that kind of luck in very similar situations. Her own experience of that one single blow had taught her to never dismiss bruises when she was called out to a domestic.

Yaz straightened her back. She couldn’t afford to show weakness, not here.The prison was small and if this woman proved dangerous there would be nowhere to run. “The name is Yasmin. You can call me pretty but don’t call me a thing. Who are you?”

“Nadia. You’ve got some mouth on you for a beta haven’t you girl? I’ll let it pass because you’re new and don’t know who I am.”

The Doctor had been listening and moved quickly to slip an arm around Yaz’s waist from where she was sitting beside her on the bench while also offering the remained of  a chocolate bar, “And I’m the Doctor, Yasmine’s mate. Want some chocolate?” Her words were friendly but her face wasn’t. Her smile showed a lot of teeth. She offered the food like a threat.

Yaz had never seen her so protective around another alpha, even the first time they met Mary Anne. Then again, when it had come to Mary Anne, the Doctor’s reaction had just been very mild jealousy, the Doctor hadn’t thought Mary Anne was a threat to Yaz. The way she clutched at Yaz now, that was more reminiscent to those few terrible days they had spent in the harem of a certain empress.

The greying alpha didn’t look impressed. “You’re her mate then little apha?”

“Yes.” snapped the Doctor.

“Because I heard she protected you from Sammie like you were her bitch.”

“Well maybe I am,” said the Doctor with the ghost of a smile before her face darkened. “Machisma posturing aside, if you keep threatening my mate we are going to have an issue.”

“I’m not threatening your pretty beta, I’m insulting you little apha.” There were a lot of teeth in the greying alphas smile as well. She wanted the Doctor to throw a punch. Yaz doubted the Doctor would but she couldn’t risk it.

She ached to stand, to at least be on eye level with the other woman but she knew that even rising to her feet would be taking the bait. The alpha had two women to her back. Yaz had the Doctor, who was better with her whits than a closed fist. She had no idea with Lucy or Jen  would actually back them. “What do you want?”

“Only to make you an offer pretty girl. If you tire of defending that useless alpha of yours you should come seek me out. I can keep you safe.”

“Not from yourself.” Yaz had not expected Lucy to speak but the small beta did. “Don’t try to get your claws in this one Nadia. She’s my friend.”

Nadia arched an eyebrow. “Are you finally throwing down on me assassin?”

“No but you know how this place works as well as I do.”

“And your claiming this woman? Are you even fucking her?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I only want to fuck her.”

“If all you did was fuck women who wanted to be fucked, no one in this prison would give a damn. That isn’t all you do though is it?” even sitting, the small beta seemed a bit imposing, although it was hard to saw exactly how.

“You can’t prove anything.”

“Kelly didn’t exactly hang herself because you were nice to her now did she?” snarled Lucy. “I looked away once, I won’t do it again, especially if you target one of my cellmates.”

“You overstep your place beta. You don’t run this prison.”

“You don’t either you old alpha bitch.”

Nadia clenched her hands. “We both know I can take you in a fight.”

“A fair one maybe.” There was a lot of implication in her tone. “We both know how things would end later.”

The other woman’s eyes widened a bit, “You’re a fucking honorless assassin.”

“And don’t you forget it. I’m in here for taking out high ranking mob members. You are locked up because you beat your helpless omega wife to death. Which one of us does that make more dangerous?”

There really wasn’t a good comeback to that. Nadia still tried. “Fuck you. I’ve got better things to do,” She turned and stormed off with her two lackeys in tow.

The moment she was gone Yaz slumped with relief. The Doctor pulled her closer, kissing her neck to reassure her.

“Did we just make an enemy?” Yaz asked Lucy.  

The beta shrugged. “Nadia is pretty much everyone’s enemy.”

“She’s just good at gathering other assholes around herself and getting them to do her bidding,” added Jen.

“How worried should the Doctor and I be?”

“A bit, might be a good idea to stick close for the next couple days or so until she loses interest.”

 

Sticking close proved pretty easy. It wasn’t like they really knew anyone else in the prison. The evening brought another largely inedible meal. The Doctor dumped the entire sugar jar into her soup and seemed to decide that made it consumable.

As soon as they were let back into the main block for evening recreation women started wandering over with things they needed fixed. The Doctor made short work of renewing her cigarette supply. She got enough to trade for a small radio. Yaz assumed that this was part of her escape plan, that or she just really liked the terrible sort of techno accordion polka that was apparently ubiquitous on Tyco’s first moon.

The  pretty petite red haired woman that Yaz had seen at the heart of a group their first day in the cafeteria wandered over. She had the same fairly muscled young alpha in tow that Yaz had seen her sitting in the lap of.

With an easy smile she handed the Doctor an analog watch to fix. The Doctor popped open the back and began to use a pair of tweezers she’d just traded for to see what was wrong with the thing.

Showing considerable interest in the process, the red head, who the Doctor scented as a beta, perched on the arm of the couch besides the Doctor. Apparently she didn’t have much appreciation for personal space, that or she was just a really unsubtle flirt.  

Yaz quickly concluded that it was the latter when the beta started to lean over to look at the watch more closely, clearly brushing her arm against the Doctor’s deliberately. “The name is Isabella by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” said the Doctor oblivious to the flirting and busy making faces at the watch.

“You’re cute.”

“I know.”

“Like very cute.”

“Oye,” said Yaz, leaning over. “I’m sitting right here.”

That got her a very charming smile that showed Isabella’s dimples. “You’re not bad looking yourself, my girlfriend certainly thinks so. She motioned at the young alpha to her left that was leaning against the wall the couch was set against.

The alpha offered a half grin. She wasn’t bad looking. Yaz blushed a little bit.

The beta tilted her head. “You two aren’t monogamous are you? That would be terrible dull.”

“Um…” managed Yaz. Of course they would get an offer to have a foursome while in prison, that was just the way their life went lately wasn’t it?

 

The Doctor looked up from the watch and gave Yaz a shrug. Yaz spoke for both of them. “You are both very hot but were still finding our feet here.”

“Ah, well if you two decide you are interested once you’ve settled in let us know,” she said it with a shrug and her smile remained real.

The Doctor finished with the watch and handed it back to her. She held it up to her ear, listening to the soft ticking sound. “Thank you. How much do I owe you?”

“No charge,” the Doctor had a slightly sly look of her own.

“No?”

“Nah, you’re cute.”

As soon as their new acquaintances had departed Yaz began to giggle uncontrollably. She gave the Doctor a gentle nudge, “flirt much?”

Her mate just grinned, “I’m good at it aren't I?”

“You have your moments babe.”

The Doctor spent the rest of the evening modifying the radio she’d traded for. Before lights out Yaz and her slipped into the bathroom and made a quick call to the TARDIS to let Ryan and Graham know they were alright.

Ryan had really been getting the hang of TARDIS tech and had already been able to mostly track where they were, or at least where the Doctor’s coat was. The TARDIS, who really was a wise of girl had been able to hack and scan through the police records and show Ryan where the Doctor and Yaz had been transferred to.

He and Graham had tried to hop the TARDIS into the prison itself but the places shielding was too heavy. When the Doctor heard a guard’s approaching footsteps, she quickly switched the radio to blaring music and slammed Yaz against the wall of the toilet stall, kissing her. The position of their feet would easily provide a non escape based reason to be together in the small stall. The radio was bulky and there was nowhere to hide it or other possible explanation for having it in the bathroom that listening to music.

A moment later there was a loud bang on the stall door. “Final count is in five minutes ladies. Get your asses back to your cell. Also what the fuck is with the radio?”

“Privacy,” explained the Doctor as she stepped out of the cell, making a show of adjusting her shirt.

It was the guard who’d showed them to their cells the first day. For all her swearing, she just looked amused. While technically fraternizing with other prisoners was forbidden but the guards really had other things to worry about. “Are you two really that loud?”

“Pretty much,” admitted Yaz, switching off the radio, “That and she’s helluva modest.”

The Doctor had to fight down laughter but she managed to nodd.

The guard sighed, looking unconvinced. “Just get back to your cell.”

 

Early the next morning, immediately after count, Lucy chucked at towel at them both. “Come on you two, shower time. Our cell is too small for you to get stinky. Now is the least crowded time.”

They walked with Jen and her to the shower block. Jen gave the Doctor a nudge. “Isabella and Anna made a pass at you and last night right? ”

“Yea. They were very polite about it,” said the Doctor.

“You going to take them up on it?” asked Lucy.

“Probably not,” said Yaz.

“You might want to reconsider. Isabella never keeps lovers, other than Anna, very long but she extends her protection to any woman she’s fucked. Other than me, she’s one of the only women in this prison who can stand up to Nadia. Unlike me, she’s also got a fairly large gang to back her. She ran an entire mob family before she ended up in here.”

“I don’t trade sex for things,” snapped Yaz.

“Suit yourself, you don’t have to take my advice just because I offer it.”

The shower room was very crowded, as there was only one for the entire cell block. They left their clothes on a bench and took the last three open shower heads against the far wall. Yaz and the Doctor had to share one but that wasn’t really an issue for them. The water wasn’t hot exactly but it was close enough to luke warm.

Yaz couldn’t help but be quietly appreciative of both of their new friends appearances, especially Jen’s but she was polite enough not to stare, at least she tried not to. A lack of pretty much anything else to do mean that Jen clearly spent a lot of time lifting weights and doing crunches, possibly even sit ups.

Jen caught her looking and raised an eyebrow. Yaz looked away quickly and went back to scrubbing her hair with the shampoo she’d traded for that day. It had a not particularly pleasant chemical smell to it.

“So did you two turn down Isabella and Anna because they weren’t to your tastes or because you didn’t want to share each other?”

Yaz ducked her head back into the water before replying. “They weren’t bad looking but we usually like to know women for more than five minutes before we go to bed with them.”

“And after five minutes?” there was an invitation in her dark eyes.

Yaz felt her breath grow short and another part of herself become damp and it wasn’t because of the water. “Depends on who’s asking.”

“Good to know.” Jen smiled and cast her a sly glanced before returning to scrubbing her own hair.

Yaz was distracted enough she didn’t see who shoved her. One moment she was standing and the next she was on her back, her head slamming against the hard tile floor. She knew she needed to get to her feet, fight, an defender herself. A kick and then another connected with her ribs before she find a way through the haze of pain in her head.

Distantly she heard the Doctor growl. Yaz opened her eyes in time to see the Doctor shove away the woman who had attacked Yaz. It was a mistake because she left herself open. Another woman landed a solid blow to the side of her head, flooring her.

Jen rushed forward, fists raised, but both of Nadia’s minions retreated. The older of the two spat and said, “tell the dark haired girl she comes to Nadia’s cell tonight or next time this doesn’t stop with a few kicks.”

Jen tried to pursue them but Lucy grabbed her, “No, the guards are coming. You can’t be caught fighting.”

“But!”

“Later. I promise.”

The guards did not so much come running as carefully poke their heads around the door. Whichever guard had first seen the fight break out had come back with reinforcements. Most of the guards had experience dealing with how bad fights in the shower could get and had long ago learned to prioritize their own safety over the prisoners.

The guard from the first day proved to be the bravest. When she found the room now mostly deserted save Yaz, the Doctor, Lucy, Jen and a few others who hadn’t managed to dress and get out of there fast enough, she relaxed.

“What happened?” she asked, crossing her arms and watching Jen and Lucy help a naked Yaz to her feet and over to a bench. The Doctor managed on her own, although a bruise was already forming on the side of her face.

“They fell in the shower,” said Lucy deadpan.

“Both of them?”

“Yaz accidentally grabbed the Doctor on her way down.”

“I see and that totally explains the bruising on one woman’s face and the others side.” She turned to look pointedly at Yaz who now had a towel drawn around herself and the Doctor who was rubbing at her bruised cheek. “Was what Lucy said what actually happened?”

“Yes,” said Yaz quickly.

The guard shook her head in frustration. “You know, if you lot would ever just start telling us the truth instead of always protecting your attackers maybe we could actually reduce the violence in this place.”

None of prisoners respond.

“It was Nadia and her crew wasn’t it?” pressed the guard. “It’s always her.”

They stayed silent.

The guard threw her hands up in the air. “Great, now you lot are probably going to try and get revenge. The other guards and I are going to have to be on edge all week worrying that we are going to walk in on a fight or find a woman shanked to death. Honestly this job really doesn’t pay enough, even with the health insurance.”

Her rant done she took another look at the Doctor and Yaz. “Do either of you need to go to the medical wing?”

“Yaz hit her head so hard there was a thumping sound,” volunteered Jen.

“Right, so probably a concussion, more paperwork. Go on, get dressed.”

On the upside it turned out that Yaz didn’t have a concussion. The same prison doctor looked over both her and the Doctor and declared them both merely bruised. She gave them some minor pain killers, a non aspirin based one for the Doctor, when she mentioned that it could kill her, and sent them back into gen pop.


	3. Being feared and not hated go well together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I decided to go with a sex scene after all. Enjoy.

Lucy and Jen were in the midst of a spectacular row when Yaz and the Doctor came back to the cell just after missing lunch, not that missing lunch was much of a tragedy. Lucy  and Jen were facing off with clenched hands and angry glares in the small cell. 

“I can’t let you do this.” hissed Jen.

“You don’t tell me what to do!” snarled back Lucy in a half whispered yell. She was so upset she barely spared Yaz and the Doctor a glance. “I’m already doing thirty to life, what does it matter if I get more time added?”

“Nadia’s goons heard you threaten her. If she turns up dead, it’ll get pinned on you and you’ll be thrown into the hole until you lose your mind! I know you Lucy, you can’t do a day without your books, days and day with nothing will kill you.”

“I stood by and watched what Nadia did to Kelly, I won’t do that again.”

“Kelly wasn’t our friend.”

“Yaz is.” There was something fierce and wild in the beta’s face. It wasn’t so much the look of a trained assassin as a half decent woman at the end of her tether. 

The Doctor cleared her throat loudly and everyone turned to look at her. “Lucy, please tell me that your brilliant plan isn’t just to shank Nadia.”

Lucy crossed her lean arms “You got a better plan Doctor? Because if your girl doesn’t go to Nadia during the rec period tonight, that bitch will try and kill you both tomorrow. That old bitch can’t afford to lose face, not after she’s publicly sent her goons after you.”

The Doctor’s lovely face was a like a closed  book. “We both know that’s not happening.”

Lucy’s scarred features softened a little bit. “You’re a sweetheart Doctor, you really are. I like you, I like your girlfriend. You’re not monsters like me, not killers at all, just rebels against our fucked up government and I honestly respect that. Let me do one damn good deed and protect you. Taking out people like Nadia is the one thing I’m really good at.” She looked so tired. She might have been a dangerous woman but in that moment her lean shoulders were hunches and the lines about her eyes were etched as deep as the rock of ages. 

“I can’t ask that of you. Let me show you a better way. You don’t need to kill Nadia, we can defeat her other ways.”

“Why do I want to believe you?”

“Because I’m right. Let me show you. Now for starters, tell me exactly how many women that Nadia has hurt.”

 

…

 

In the end they spent the rest of the day collecting gossip, listening, and building alliances. The Doctor gave away the last of her cigarettes and chocolate. Yaz helped and listened, so did Lucy and Jen.

Isabella seemed genuinely surprised when the Doctor offered her part of a bar of chocolate in the rec room. 

“You looking for protection now that a a big bad wolf is after you and your lovely girlfriend?” She did not sound unsympathetic.”

“Not protection exactly.” 

The pretty beta grew serious. “What do you want then?”

“To give you a chance to become a bigger fish in a very small pond.”

“Why?”

“Because the other big fish threatened my mate and me and you didn’t.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I’m going to need a distraction big enough to draw most of the guards out of the yard and into the prison itself about fifteen minutes after dinner.”

 

…

 

By dinner time everyone on the block knew that something was going down. You could have cut the tension in the mess hall with a knife. At their table the Doctor seemed to be the only one actually able to eat, even if she was just spooning sugar out of the jar. Yaz poked at what might or might not have been meatloaf. She was hungry, hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and yet still her stomach was a knot. 

Across the room Isabella was holding court at the heart of her gang, perched on her alpha lovers lap and charming as ever. It seemed to Yaz that the small beta was keeping all of her people very close. 

When she looked further to the right she saw Nadia enter the room. The alpha gave her a smile that wasn’t so much a smile as a turning of lips and a baring of teeth.  A cold shiver ran down the police woman’s spine. 

The Doctor saw where she was looking and made a low growl, not even pretending she wasn’t showing her teeth. 

“Down girl,” said Lucy. “Don’t start things early.”

With a scowl the Doctor tugged her jar of sugar closer and ate angrily. Mercifully the meal ended and the prisoners were allowed to go out into the yard or back into the common area. The Doctor and her friends went straight for the yard. 

They went to lean against the buildings Northern wall where it met the fence. Due to the position of the guard tower, it was one of the harder places to see, especially with how dark the buildings shadow could be around sunset. It was usually where prisoners made illegal trades.

Lucy began to nervously smoke one cigaret after the other. 

“Give me one,” said Jen.

“No,” snapped the beta. 

“Awe come one, I’ll let you have the next apple I get.”

“No, it’s a filthy habit and being in prison is no reason for you to pick it up.”

“You are literally saying that with a lit cigarette in your hands.”

“I’m old and my lungs are already fucked up, yours aren’t.”

Jen rolled her eyes. She blinked when the doctor held out a lollipop to her but took it.

“How did you even get this? They don’t sell them at commissary.”  

The Doctor paused in sucking on her own. “I think they are smuggled in, they cost more cigarettes than the chocolate bars. I wanted Jelly Babies but no one had any. Come to think of it I’m not sure they exist in this time or place.”

Yaz felt a laugh bubbling up in throat in spite of everything. The sun was starting to dip low on the horizon and Yaz could feel the cool touch of a nightwind tickling the hairs at the back of her neck that had come loose from her braid. “Of course you would buy smuggled lollipops in prison my darling.” 

The Doctor struck a James Dean esque pose against the wall, holding the lolypop like a cigarette. “We both know I am just that cool.”

Yaz leaned over to kiss her once, lightly. “I love you so much, you bloody charming idiot.”

“Oh shit, their coming.” Jen’s entire body went tense, her hands clenched at her side. She radiated that dangerous mix of fear and aggression that comes when someone knows they can’t run. 

Lucy threw down her cigarette, grinding it under the rubber heel of her prison issue boot. “I hope to all the gods you know what your doing Doctor.”

“Always, well not always, er I do occasionally.” They were spared a more rambly explanation by Nadia finally reaching them with six women at her heels. They were surrounded in a half breath. The Doctor recognized the two women who had attacked Yaz and her in the shower that morning. At such close proximity she could scent that all but two of the women were alphas. Considering the alpha beta ratio in the prison it was impressive that Nadia had been able to gather so many in one group. 

“I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that your stupid,” said the greying haired alpha.  “Maybe the message I sent you this morning wasn’t blunt enough so I’m going to spell things out for you. Either you come along to my cell quietly and let me do whatever I want to you or my friends here are going to break as many of your girlfriend’s bones as they can, then we’ll still drag you back to my cell and I’ll even let my friends have a go at you when I’m done.”

“Do you ever just listen to yourself?” asked the Doctor slipping arm around Yaz’s waist. “I mean you just gave the most quintessential evil bully speech. Did you wake up this morning thinking that you wanted to go be the bad guy?” Distantly she heard a loud crash and bang that probably mean that Isabella’s guard redirecting distraction had started.

Nadia shrugged. “Pretty much. All I care about is getting what I want. Now are you going to get out of the way little alpha or are we going to have to do this the hard way.”

“I’m not coming with you,” said Yaz. 

The alpha showed her teeth properly, “Good, I was rather hoping you wanted to do this the hard way. It’s always more fun.”

“I wouldn't recommend getting any closer.” said the Doctor.

“Oh, and why not?” if anything it really looked like the gang leader was having fun. 

“Because I’m as good at making friends as you are at making enemies.”

“If you think that Lucy and Jen are going to be able to protect you…”

The Doctor smiled and Nadia got a bad feeling. One of her lackies tapped her on the shoulder. “Um boss.”

“What!”

“I think we’re surrounded.”

They weren’t so much surrounded as loosely ringed by a group of about twenty women. 

The Doctor’s grin got broader and really became something else all together. “I used to know this guy from Florence, Niccolo Macchiavelli. He was actually a nice guy, terribly ethical, but he understood politics and people like nobody's business. One day when he was trying to get a job as a political advisor he wrote this book called  _ The Prince _ , that showed exactly how someone with no conscious could become a terrible effective ruler. What everyone remembers from that book is the whole ‘better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both,’ bit.”

“The hell are you on about?” growled Nadia.

The Doctor held up her lollipop like a pointer, “Let me finish, so as I was saying, people always say it is better for others to be afraid of you than to like you. That is clearly the strategy you always go with. The thing is though, people forgot about the rest of the book because old Niccolo also said that the most dangerous thing to be is despised and hated. It’s one thing to be feared, but if you're also despised then your sunk. Something about hatred puts the fight back into people.”

“Get to the point bitch!”

The Doctor took a step forward, “Nadia, your not just feared, your hated, your hated by a lot of women. You’ve crossed the line between taking what you want and just being needlessly cruel too many times even for this time.” 

The alpha’s eyes went wide but she didn’t retreat, she really couldn’t with how surrounded she was. Her lackies drew as close to her as they could, all standing back to back facing outwards. “If you lot are going to beat me to death the get on with it and stop yammering. Just know I won’t go down easy.”

“We’re not going to kill you,” said Lucy. “Not today. I mean I wanted to, but blondie here said she didn’t want any violence.”

“This is your own and only chance,” said the Doctor “You can go, but look around you first, see how many women hate you. The next time you try anything, take anything, raise a hand against anyone, then just know that there are a lot of women waiting for that moment.”

“One other thing,” said Jen. “You don’t get to have a gang anymore. Any of your old minions try to hang out with you again after this and they’re under the same threat as you.”

The Doctor held out her hands in almost a welcoming gestures to address the three alphas and one beta who stood with Nadia. “This is your chance to get away from her and save face. None of you actually like her do you?”

The speed with which one of the alphas turned on her former leader was terrifying. She struck one closed hand punch to her stomach. 

“I liked Kelly and you drove that poor beta girl to kill herself you fucking bitch!”

Nadia knew better than to go down or to fight back. 

Fortunately for her the alpha stormed away without a further attack. 

The next alpha to defect was the youngest of the group. She didn’t lash out violently, . “I was eighteen and scared when I got thrown into this hellhole and scared enough to accepted your protection. You’ve never hurt me but the things you made me to do to others…” She shook her head once sharply before stepping out of the circle. “I won’t do that anymore.” 

One of the two betas shoved at Nadia. “You know exactly what you’ve done to me. If you ever come near me again I’ll kill you myself and none of these women will rat me out.” 

The last two lackeys traded a quick look between them.  

“Sorry boss,” said the alpha minion. “I always work for the biggest dog and that ain’t you anymore, nothing personal.” 

“Same,” said the remaining beta. “I can tell when the wind’s changed.” 

Nadia was left standing there alone. To her credit she kept her head up, clearly trying to figure out if they were really going to let her or if that was just a tactic to attack her while she was running away.

That was when the guards returned from Isabella’s distraction. Some seemed to be partially covered in soap suds so it had to have been something interesting. Likely they had actually finished with the distraction some time ago but had been waiting for sufficient numbers to actually deal with whatever was happening in the yard. 

The guard from the first day blew her whistle. “All of you lot get down. Hands on your heads now!”

They obeyed. It tore at Yaz’s pride to lie down on the cool asphalt like that, but she did. The guard headed straight for the Doctor. “Stand up and tell me what the hell is was going on here?” 

The Doctor stood, not missing a beat. “We were just playing duck, duck, goose.” 

“With one woman at the center?” The way the guard looked towards Nadia’s prone form suggested that she wasn’t a big fan of hers. 

“We’ll she’s not very good at it.” 

“Right, stand up, all of you, recreation period is over. Get back to your damn cells.

When Nadia stood, the guard called her over. “Not you inmate Mclaire. I’ve no idea what just happened but the other inmates are looking at you the way a flock of geese would a snail. Your going into to protective custody for a day or two.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Not that I caught you at today, but I’m deeming you at risk and I honestly don’t want to find your body jammed in a storage cupboard first thing tomorrow. Now come along.”

The alpha went without further protest.

What the Doctor would never learn and certainly did not know was coming then, even if it would not have surprised her, was that Nadia was dead within three days. 

The same evening she was released back into gen pop someone quietly stabbed her and no witnesses to the event could ever be found. 

 

Of all of them, the Doctor actually seemed the calmest about her victory, simply walking with a protective arm thrown around a smiling Yaz. Jen was positively gleeful and even Lucy was grinning like a fool. 

“I can’t believe it worked, it actually worked,” the young alpha crowded as they re-entered their cell. “I was so sure we were going to all get the crap kicked out of us.”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” said the Doctor. 

“I just, I can’t believe it. We brought down Nadia! We brought down Nadia and none of us even got hurt or in trouble.”

“When people believe that things can be better and work together for it a lot of things are possible,” said the petite blond.

Lucy shook her head in amazement as she sat down on her bunk. “Are you sure your real? You seem so much like you could have just stepped from the pages of one of my paperback romances.

The Doctor gave her a cheeky grin. “Am I your type then?” 

“Yes actually. I’ve got a thing for heroic nerdly alphas.”

That caught the Time Lady slightly by surprise. Lucy hadn’t really flirted or shown any clear interest beyond a glance or two since she and Yaz had arrived in the prison. The look she was giving the Doctor now left very little question on the matter. 

The Doctor flushed and quickly looked to Yaz who gave a slight shrug. 

Jen observed all of this, “Oye Lucy, no fair. I hit on Yaz first.”

“You hit on Yaz, I hit on the Doctor. Also since when do we have rules about hitting on new cellmates?” 

Things would have likely become very interesting in the next few minutes except a guard came by to do count and they had to go stand by their respective bunks. Once the lights were turned of and the first of the night watch had done their sweep the Doctor leaned over the bunk with Yaz. “So were you serious?” 

Lucy could barely tell in the dark but she suspected the Doctor was smiling like a lunatic. She felt a smile tugging at her own lips, “Yes.”

“For the record I am  too,” added Jen. 

“So to sort a lot of embarrassment in advance,” said Yaz, also leaning over the bunk. “Lucy are you only interested in the Doctor or both of us, Jen are you only interested in me or both of us?”

“Mostly the Doctor, but you are cute too if it comes to it,” said Lucy.

“Mostly you actually,” admitted Jen. “But yea, the Doctor is...well she’s the kind of alpha I might go for.”

Yaz and the Doctor briefly conferred. “Just to clarify,” asked the Doctor “You two aren’t lovers right?”

“No,” said Lucy. “we really are just friends, the not having sex with each other sort.”   

“So to clarify,” said Yaz. “Would it be terrible awkward if I wanted to have sex with Jen and the Doctor wants to have sex with Lucy even if we're all stuck in the same cell?”

Lucy leaned slightly off the edge of her bunk so that she could look up. “You two really are adventurous sorts aren't you.”

“You have no idea,” admitted Yaz. “So too awkward?”

“Nah, privacy is kind of non existent in this place,” said Lucy, “And a chance to sleep with a cute blond alpha who just defeated one of my mortal enemies without throwing a punch is very rare.”

“How many victorious blond alphas do you know?” asked the Doctor. 

“Just get down here.”

 

The greatest challenge of having sex in the prison cell was that the bunks were very small. Most barely held one occupant much less two in motion. Somehow everyone managed with a minimum of anyone tumbling off onto the floor, although Yaz did once during the proceedings. 

It was her fault. She found it was very hard to choose between focusing on the cute dark haired alpha beneath her, who really did remind her so much of a certain space marine from the second Aliens movie, and watching her girlfriend with another woman. 

After the first tumble, which included her very painfully whamming her elbow on the floor, she realized she really did need to focus on the matter at hand. Jen pulled her back into her arms. 

“You okay beautiful?”

“Yea,” well her elbow hurt like hell but she didn’t think it was broken. 

“You know you won’t fall off again if you’re under me.”

“Don’t you dare try to roll us, we’ll both end up on the floor.”

Yaz kept her perch over the alpha and leaned down to kiss her. The young alpha was highly appreciative, her hands already scrambling to tugg off Yaz’s shirt and bra to get a mouth against her breast.

Yaz gasped when she bit a little too hard. “Easy.”

Jen kissed her breast in apology. Yaz took the chance to get at the other woman’s shirt and then she was distracted by just how nice the alpha’s breasts were. She couldn’t see them particularly well in the dim light but she could feel just fine. Jen responded wonderfully to her touch and her breath quickly grew short. Yaz trailed her hands down to tug at the hem of the alphas pants. They were drawstring so there was no button or zipper to be sorted. 

Suddenly Jen caught at Yaz’s hand. “Wait, I want to fuck you first.”

Yaz nipped at her ear, “Funny, you seem pretty desperate just to get off.”

“An alpha is supposed to get her partner off first.”

“Who told you that?”

“I…” 

“Don’t tell me what should be, tell me what you want.”

“Fuck me, please,” she half whispered as if afraid of her own courage. 

Yaz did. When she got Jen’s pants and underwear down she found her slick and ready. She whimpered and pressed against Yaz’s hand when she traced fingers against her clit and then clutched at the sheet when Yaz pressed into her warmth.

Two fingers inside, her thumb against her clit and soon enough Yaz had to cover Jen’s mouth with her own to stifle the desperate sounds she was making. 

Jen pulled away and bit down into her own wrist, fighting down the marking instinct. Yaz had never seen an alpha need to bite that badly outside a rut. 

Wondering if the alpha could come again, she kept moving her fingers and tried to add a third. 

Jen pressed back against her harder, arching and covering her mouth with two hands to fight down the sound that struggled to break free. She clenched hard against Yaz’s fingers and then went still, slumping beneath her.  

“Fuck.”

“Good?” Yaz stretched out beside her on the narrow bed, feeling just a little bit cocky.

“Yea, never done that before,” Jen pushed Yaz’s loosened hair out of the way to lazily nuzzle at her neck.

“Wait...you weren’t a virgin were you?” Worry flooded Yaz. If she’d know that she’d at least have gone down on her first. 

“What, no. I’ve mated an omega before and I’ve been with a beta or two since I ended up in here. I’ve just...never sort of...let one penetrate me.” 

“Why not?” Yaz leaned into her nuzzling, it felt good. “You seemed like you really, really liked that.”

“It’s not something an alpha is supposed to like.”

“Screw that.”

Whatever answer Jen might have given was lost by a sudden, very loud sound from the bed across from them.

 

The Doctor and Lucy had at least had better luck with staying on the bed. They’d been less rushed. Lucy let go of control as easily in sex as she desperately clung to it in all other things. 

She’d been overjoyed to let the Doctor tug her clothes off and push her back on the cheap blankets. The Doctor kissed her properly and then worked lower, paid proper appreciation to her breaths, her scarred stomach and then down the heart of her pleasure. 

Lucy grabbed at her shoulders, clearly fighting the instinct to pull her hair, at the first brush of her tongue. A few more sharp and then soft applications of that same talented part of the Doctor and Lucy really couldn’t stay silent. She hid her face in a pillow, stifling the sound as best she could. The other inmates might not really care but if she screamed a guard might come see what was going on and that wouldn’t be good.

When the Doctor sucked on her clit, she was nearly lost. She’d seldom orgasmed so quickly in her life. She had to give up on the pillow so she could gasp for breath. The Doctor crawled back over her, kissing her again. 

She would have thought the alpha would was her to return the favor immediately but instead she felt the Doctor’s fingers brush against her entrance.

“Yes, goddess yes,” she whispered.

The Doctor proved to be as talented with her fingers as she was with her mouth, and that really was saying something. Lucy moaned and writhed beneath her. 

“Fuck you’re good at this.”

“Lots of practice.”

“Can’t have had that much, your younger than me.”

“Little do you know beautiful.”

Lucy didn’t have much more energy for thought. The Doctor had this perfect way of curling her fingers every few thrusts, and she was slightly twisting one nipple with her free hand and then it was just too much. Lucy arched and came, forgetting to be quiet. 

 

It didn’t take long for Jen to catch her breath. She rolled Yaz underneath her. “My turn sexy.”

She  kissed her hungrily and then whispered in hear ear. “Now you tell me what you want.”

If there was one thing that Yaz’s various sexual adventures had taught her it was to be very clear about how she wanted to be touched. She’d never yet found a lover who was psychic, even the Doctor. Although, she supposed, if she ever did have a psychic lover things might get very interesting. 

“Your fingers, three inside of me, quick and hard, your thumb against your clit.”

Jen obliged and Yaz was quickly lost to pleasure.  

 

When Lucy stopped trembling, she pulled the Doctor into another kiss. She ran her hands over the golden haired woman almost reverently, as if she wanted to memorize her. The Doctor leaned into it. 

The beta took a very long time just focusing on her breast, so the Doctor tangled her hands in her hair and guided her a bit lower. 

Yaz wasn’t sure why, but just at the moment she could feel her orgasm coiling, ready to crest, she couldn’t help but turn and look toward the Doctor. It was hard not to, she could hear her muffled moans. 

The Doctor could hear her mate on the very edge and it was too much. She turned to look for her as her own release took her. She saw her across the shadows of the cell, naked and back beautifully arched, looking towards to her, forgetful of the other alpha that was kissing her neck. It took every bit of decency the Doctor had not to cry out Yaz’s name in that moment, she owed the beautiful woman between her legs that much consideration at least. 

Then she was lost to the sharp tension and release of orgasm and she could have no more said a name than silence the cries that fought their ways up her throat. She muffled them against her own wrist. 

The Doctor had not fully come down from her orgasm, at least not really regained control of her muscles, when Lucy poked her. At some point the scarred beta had stretched out beside her. 

“Your girl is staring at us, go take care of her.”

The Doctor went, snatching down a blanket from the top bunk so they would have something to lie on. She didn’t trust herself to be able to get up to the bunk or that a top bunk would be able to handle that level of movement.

When Yaz pulled away from the alpha, the young alpha made a soft soft of disappointment but let her go.

Yaz and the Doctor met in a passionate kiss and went down onto the blanket very quickly. It was hard to tell really, where one ended and the other began as they tumbled on the hard floor and rough blanket. 

The Doctor got the advantage at some point, pressing Yaz down and several fingers into her as she nipped her shoulder. The Doctor didn’t have much of a biting instinct, even during rut, but something about seeing Yaz with other alphas could sometimes spark it just a bit. She still managed to not break skin. 

Yaz wasn’t content just to to take her own pleasure. She got a hand between them, fingers finding the Doctor’s already overstimulated clit. They really stopped trying to be quite at that point. The next morning the Doctor would actually end up handing out her entire stash of cigarettes and chocolate in apology to everyone they’d kept up the night before. 

As one older inmate would tell her after accepting a half chocolate bar. “It’s not that I’m complaining, it’s just well, you lot really did go on for a bit and some of us do need our eight hours. I mean, I get that your young, and that there were apparently four of your involved, but three rounds really?” 

When Yaz and the Doctor were done they curled up together, too tired to attempt to get up onto their bunk. 

Yaz noticed that Jen was watching her. “Come hold me, I didn’t cuddle you properly when we finished.”

The alpha looked down at her blanket covered breasts. “I’m okay. I don’t need…”

“But I want to hold you and I’m asking.” 

She went to Yaz, bringing down her own blanket. She lay down on Yaz’s closer side. With some wiggling, Yaz settled happily between the two alphas. Any thoughts of further sexual escapades were quickly losing to the weight of sleepiness. 

“You lot are ridiculous,” all the same Lucy still came down to settle against the Doctor. 

A bit later, as they all lay too content to move but still aware they really couldn’t fall asleep on the floor, Lucy kissed the Doctor’s ear and whispered very softly. “You’re planning an escape aren’t you?”

The Doctor tensed, speaking to softly to wake Yaz or Jen, who were dozing, “what gives you that idea?”

“Don’t play dumb, I know the look of a woman who’s busy casing the joint. Just do one thing for me, when you go, take Jen with you.”

The Doctor sat up on the dark cell floor. “You care more about her getting out than yourself?”

“The kid is the only real friend I’ve found in this place and she’s doing twenty-five years without parole for a crime she didn’t commit.”

“Everyone in here says their innocent.”

“Poor girl actually is. She told me once when she got really drunk off rotgut. Her older omega sister had an abusive husband. The sister finally snapped and stabbed the husband to death out of self defense. The government doesn’t exactly look kindly on omegas who kill alphas, whatever the reason. Jen pled guilty and went down for her sister so that her nieces and nephews wouldn’t lose their mother.” 

The Doctor thought about that for a moment. “I can get her out. I can get you out too but you’ll have to promise not to kill people anymore.”

“Easy enough, I’ve been out of my profession to long to go back to it anyway.”

They had just settled back, each contemplating actually heading for a bunk when the sound of footsteps surprised them both. The Doctor had barely managed to sit up, sadly without a blanket, when a flashlight was turned on her.

“The hell?” The Doctor couldn’t see the guard through the brilliance of her flashlight but she sounded a good bit older than the other guard that she and Yaz kept running into.

“If I said it was a sleepover would you believe me?” said Lucy quickly.

“No, but I don’t care. Just get back in your bunks. You’ll all catch your death on the floor.”

 

The actual escape proved almost deceptively simple. The Doctor hadn’t wasted any of her time in the prison and she’d memorized all of the shift changes, the guards movements, even when trucks came and went though the main gate. 

The prison did its own laundry but it got a large shipment of soap and other supplies once a week. The same company also carried off all sheets and uniforms that were deemed ruined so that they could be re-processed as industrial rags. In a prison as large as that one, there was always a large hamper of clothes and sheets that were simply beyond use or repair. 

Ryan and Graham were able to steal the laundry truck. Ryan felt a bit bad about knocking out the two delivery drivers with a stun spray, taking their clothes and leaving them in a closet with just their skivvies but desperate times called for desperate measures. They used the Doctor’s sonic paper to get into the prison. 

The laundry hamper the Doctor had told him and Graham to retrieve proved to be very heavy, much heavier than Ryan would have thought just the Doctor and Yaz should weigh. All the same he and Graham managed to push it down the ramp to the truck. The only guard present watched with vague concern, possible for how must strain the process seemed to be causeding Graham, she did not offer to help though. 

None of the guards checked the laundry hamper. They knew perfectly well that because its contents were being turned into rags none of it had been washed. 

The Doctor barely waited until they were out sight of the prison to scramble out of the wretched hamper. “I have a whole new empathy for Falstaff.”

Yaz tumbled out after her. “That was horrible, we should have gone with the tunneling thought the wall plan instead.  

“Ick, ick, ick,” Jen climbed out and offered Lucy a hand. The beta offered no complaint but looked suitably traumatized. 

Graham was driving but Ryan stared at the two women in mild surprise. “Did you mean to bring along friends Doc?”

“Yea they helped us, don’t worry they are nice enough and really not as stabby as they seem, well Lucy is but I made her swear to give up killing.”

 

They made it safely back to the TARDIS. Once they were on their way they had to figure out what to do with Lucy and Jen. While the Doctor liked Lucy, she still wasn’t taking a contract killer traveling through time and space. Jen quickly proved she did not have the makings of a companion when she nearly had a panic attack upon realizing that she was in a space that was bigger on the inside. 

After some discussion the Doctor called up the dread pirate Mary Anne and asked if she needed any new crew. While Mary Anne and her ship Star Chaser Chaser technically existed about fifty years before Jen and Lucy’s time but it wasn’t like the two escaped prisoners could go back to their own moon anyway and there really would be no one looking for them in the past. 

Soon enough they were introducing the two convicts to the flamboyant pirate captain. It looked like things were going to work out. Mary Anne and Lucy were soon chatting amicably when Lucy realized that Mary Anne liked some of the same classical romances she did. 

Before they left them to it, the Doctor caught Lucy’s arm. “By the way, I’m serious about the not killing people. If Mary Anne tells me you’ve gotten stabby were going to have more than words.” 

The beta blinked at her. “You’ve just taken me to join a pirate crew but I’m not supposed to kill people?”

“They mostly rely on blasters with stun settings.”

“Energy weapons are so impersonal.” 

“You’ll adjust.”

“I suppose I will. Anyway, thank you Doctor. I always did want to grow up to be a pirate, I had no idea it would ever happen.”

Yaz said goodbye to Jen, who was looking more than a little overwhelmed by the ship, the crew and quite possible Mary Anne’s epic taste in hats.

“Trust me,” Yaz promised her, “These really are good people. You’ll like them.” 

For a woman with such a tough appearance most of the time, Jen seemed very small   when she hunched her shoulders. “What if they don’t like me? I mean I’m not really a hardened criminal or anything.”

Yaz kissed her cheek, “everyone starts somewhere and I think if you are just yourself, maybe without the whole less than successful tough as nails alpha act, you’ll do just fine.”

 

A few hours later when they were settled into a booth in their favorite bar back in Sheffield, Ryan asked, “So was it like Orange is the New Black?”

The Doctor, who had watched some of that show with Yaz shrugged. “Definitely as dirty and poorly run. The food was totally as bad as it is in the show. I’m not sure if the warden was embezzling though.”  

Graham just laughed at Ryan’s disappointed face. “I think he’s really asking if anyone was boinking in the shower.”

“It was a bit crowded for that also I did nearly get my head broken open there on the third day,” added Yaz. 

And then they had to tell the entire story. Yaz settled back, watching her mate talking animatedly. She loved the feeling of deep calm and safety that came after they’d escaped danger. 

It wasn’t that she minded danger so much, she understood that they couldn’t have adventures without it. It was just that the more deeply she fell in love with the Doctor the more some part of her desperately wanted to keep her safe. She tried not to listen to that part of herself too often. She had a better chance of caging the wind than keeping the Doctor from rushing forward into harm's way.  

Still, it was nice to know that they were both safe for the moment. After a week in prison it was wonderful to be free and back in Sheffield. She could lean back against the soft padded booth, sip her pint, and let all of her worry and weariness slowly fall away. 


End file.
